Ighlight the need to standardize protocols for the extraction and structural

Ighlight the need to standardize protocols for the extraction and structural identification of polar lipids molecular species. The same is valid for the deposit vouchers of screened taxa, in order to allow a reliable replication of results, as well as intraand interspecific comparisons.Acknowledgments: Thanks are due for the financial support to CESAM (UID/AMB/50017/2013) and QOPNA (UID/QUI/00062/2013) to FCT/MEC CEP-37440 web through national funds, and the co-funding by the FEDER, within the PT2020 Partnership Agreement and Compete 2020. E. Maciel benefits from a post-doc grant (SFRH/BPD/104165/2014) financed by FCT. We also acknowledge three anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments on a previous version of this work. Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.Review ArticleThe Interstitial Cystitis Association of America: lessons learned over the past 30 yearsVicki RatnerFounder and President Emeritus, Interstitial Cystitis Association of America, USA Correspondence to: Vicki Ratner, MD. Founder and President Emeritus, Interstitial Cystitis Association of America, 1760 Old Meadow Road, suite 500, McLean, VA 22102, USA. Email: [email protected]: In 1984, interstitial cystitis (IC) was considered a rare psychosomatic disorder in post-menopausal women. In 2014, the Interstitial Cystitis Association of America (ICA) celebrated its 30th anniversary. We’ve come a long way since 1984 and great progress has been made. IC is now recognized as a condition that afflicts both men and women of all ages, including children and teenagers. It is not a psychiatric disorder. Though it was once thought to be an orphan disease (defined as affecting less than 200,000 people), we now know that there are millions of women and men who suffer from IC/BPS (bladder pain syndrome). In looking back over this period, there were seven key reasons why the ICA became so successful: an extremely dedicated ICA staff, Board of Directors and volunteers; a very strong Medical Advisory Board and participation of many other urologists from across the country and around the world; cooperation of the media; epidemiological studies; the ICA’s Pilot Research Program; our representation in Congress; and a strong working partnership with the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Our history may prove useful to other advocacy groups.Keywords: Interstitial cystitis/bladder pain Brefeldin A chemical information syndrome (IC/BPS); bladder pain syndrome; Interstitial Cystitis Association of America (ICA); Interstitial Cystitis Association of America Advocacy Group; Interstitial Cystitis Association of America (ICA)-reasons for success Submitted Aug 01, 2015. Accepted for publication Aug 03, 2015. doi: 10.3978/j.issn.2223-4683.2015.09.02 View this article at: http://dx.doi.org/10.3978/j.issn.2223-4683.2015.09.The beginning In 1983, as a third year medical student, I came down with severe suprapubic pressure, urinary urgency, frequency and burning pain in my bladder. The pain felt like a lit match in my urethra. I was barely able to function, and found it almost impossible to concentrate. I assumed I had a UTI, but a complete work-up was negative and antibiotics failed to reduce the symptoms. In search of a diagnosis and relief from the severity of the symptoms, I sought help from one urologist after another. Many told me that the tests were negative, and that there was nothing they could do for me. Others suggested that I was not cut out to be a doctor and that I should drop out of medical sc.Ighlight the need to standardize protocols for the extraction and structural identification of polar lipids molecular species. The same is valid for the deposit vouchers of screened taxa, in order to allow a reliable replication of results, as well as intraand interspecific comparisons.Acknowledgments: Thanks are due for the financial support to CESAM (UID/AMB/50017/2013) and QOPNA (UID/QUI/00062/2013) to FCT/MEC through national funds, and the co-funding by the FEDER, within the PT2020 Partnership Agreement and Compete 2020. E. Maciel benefits from a post-doc grant (SFRH/BPD/104165/2014) financed by FCT. We also acknowledge three anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments on a previous version of this work. Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.Review ArticleThe Interstitial Cystitis Association of America: lessons learned over the past 30 yearsVicki RatnerFounder and President Emeritus, Interstitial Cystitis Association of America, USA Correspondence to: Vicki Ratner, MD. Founder and President Emeritus, Interstitial Cystitis Association of America, 1760 Old Meadow Road, suite 500, McLean, VA 22102, USA. Email: [email protected]: In 1984, interstitial cystitis (IC) was considered a rare psychosomatic disorder in post-menopausal women. In 2014, the Interstitial Cystitis Association of America (ICA) celebrated its 30th anniversary. We’ve come a long way since 1984 and great progress has been made. IC is now recognized as a condition that afflicts both men and women of all ages, including children and teenagers. It is not a psychiatric disorder. Though it was once thought to be an orphan disease (defined as affecting less than 200,000 people), we now know that there are millions of women and men who suffer from IC/BPS (bladder pain syndrome). In looking back over this period, there were seven key reasons why the ICA became so successful: an extremely dedicated ICA staff, Board of Directors and volunteers; a very strong Medical Advisory Board and participation of many other urologists from across the country and around the world; cooperation of the media; epidemiological studies; the ICA’s Pilot Research Program; our representation in Congress; and a strong working partnership with the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Our history may prove useful to other advocacy groups.Keywords: Interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome (IC/BPS); bladder pain syndrome; Interstitial Cystitis Association of America (ICA); Interstitial Cystitis Association of America Advocacy Group; Interstitial Cystitis Association of America (ICA)-reasons for success Submitted Aug 01, 2015. Accepted for publication Aug 03, 2015. doi: 10.3978/j.issn.2223-4683.2015.09.02 View this article at: http://dx.doi.org/10.3978/j.issn.2223-4683.2015.09.The beginning In 1983, as a third year medical student, I came down with severe suprapubic pressure, urinary urgency, frequency and burning pain in my bladder. The pain felt like a lit match in my urethra. I was barely able to function, and found it almost impossible to concentrate. I assumed I had a UTI, but a complete work-up was negative and antibiotics failed to reduce the symptoms. In search of a diagnosis and relief from the severity of the symptoms, I sought help from one urologist after another. Many told me that the tests were negative, and that there was nothing they could do for me. Others suggested that I was not cut out to be a doctor and that I should drop out of medical sc.